The University of California San Diego men's and women's swimming and diving teams traveled to Greensboro, N.C., on Sunday, March 11, for the 2018 NCAA Division II Championships. The four-day meet will be held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Wingate University and the Greensboro Sports Commission serve as hosts. This year's Triton contingent again consists of 24 student-athletes: 12 women's swimmers, eight men's swimmers, three women's divers and one men's diver, alongside six coaches. The divers were going through a pre-qualification meet on Tuesday, March 13, with all four diving from both the one-meter and three-meter springboards to try to qualify for the main draw. The championships get underway on Wednesday, March 14, and run through Saturday, March 17.

Both the Triton men's and women's squads head into the NCAA Championships coming off a 10th straight Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference (PCSC) title. The Triton women, ranked sixth nationally in the NCAA Division II, finished 8-3 in dual meets this season with four straight wins. The 16th-ranked UC San Diego men completed the dual schedule at 3-2.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEWThe UC San Diego women have 10 swimmers, all three divers and two relay additions on hand for a total of 15 competitors. The contingent for the Triton men includes five swimmers, their lone diver, and three relay entrants. The Triton women were 16th last March, with the men in 19th.

UC San Diego's group of 10 qualified women's swimmers is second only behind the 14 of three-time defending national champion Queens of Charlotte, N.C. Fifty-one squads have 183 swimmers in the women's meet. Queens has won three straight crowns on the men's side as well after ending Drury's 10-year reign atop Division II men's swimming and diving in 2015. A total of 157 men's swimmers will represent 37 different programs. Drury and Florida Southern are in double figures at 10 apiece, behind Queens' 13 and host Wingate's 11.

Among the five Triton men's swimmers going are seniors Kevin Wylder and captain Kevin Fink, and junior Garrett Tse. It marks a fourth qualification in four years as a Triton for Wylder. Fink makes his return in his final go-around after a trip in 2016. Tse is a second-timer, as is sophomore Edgar Chin, who went as a relay swimmer in 2017. True freshman Tenny Chong has made his first NCAA qualifying team.

Divers Brooke Abrantes (San Diego/Santana HS) and Patty Sullivan are making their third appearances, with fellow junior Delainey Carlin (Carlsbad/Carlsbad HS) a repeat qualifier. Senior Trevor Jackson (Ramona/Ramona HS) is the men's representative, for a second straight year since he joined the program. All four divers compete in the pre-qualification meet in the one- and three-meter springboard competitions on Tuesday, March 13, attempting to make the main draw in either event. Abrantes is the only one to have done so previously, last year, en route to earning All-America honorable mention in the three-meter in 16th place.

The Triton men and women both are eligible to participate in all five relay events in North Carolina. To that effect, five are in Greensboro strictly as relay swimmers in senior captain Haley Murphy for the second straight year, freshman sister Grace Murphy, PCSC Championships Men's Co-Swimmer of the Meet and fellow freshman Zack Reuter, sophomore Jack Spitser (San Diego/Rancho Bernardo HS), and senior captain Austin Takeda. Grace and the three men are all first-time attendees, with Haley at the NCAA meet for a third straight year overall.

CHAMPIONSHIPS PROGRAM A total of 42 events will be contested in Greensboro, with 21 women's and 21 men's. That includes five relays and two diving events on each side. Women's races take place before the men's. Preliminaries begin each morning at 7 a.m. PT, with the evening finals sessions getting underway at 3 p.m. PT. One diving event takes place each day, with trials at 11 a.m. PT, and finals during the night session.

The swimming starts on Wednesday with the 1000 free, 200 IM, 50 free and 200 medley relay. Thursday's slate is made up of the 200 free relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free and 400 medley relay. Friday will see the 500 free, followed by the 100 back, 100 breast, 200 fly and 800 free relay. The NCAA Championships will come to a close on Saturday, March 17, with the 1650 free, 100 free, 200 back, 200 breast and 400 free relay.

SCORING AND ALL-AMERICA The standard NCAA 16-place scoring will be used this week. Individual: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11; 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Relays: 40-34-32-30-28-26-24-22, etc. Those swimmers, either in individual or relay events, who place first through eighth as a result of appearances in championship finals, earn All-America recognition. A finish of ninth through 16th from consolation finals, is good for All-America honorable mention.

NATIONAL RANKINGSThe final College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA)/TYR Top 25 Poll for the NCAA Division II was released on Jan. 16. In it, the UC San Diego women are No. 6, with the men at No. 16. The Triton men and women were No. 7 and No. 10, respectively, in the preseason.

TRITON LEADERSHIPTeam captains for the 2017-18 season are seniors Kevin Fink, Haley Murphy and Austin Takeda, and junior Lily Maxfield. Murphy is a two-time captain. Fink had ankle surgery on Dec. 20, but rehabilitated himself enough to make it back in time for a fourth and final PCSC Championships, and has qualified for his second NCAA Championships. All four Triton captains are in North Carolina this week.

HEAD COACH DAVID MARSHDavid Marsh, a top-level coach of elite swimmers for over 30 years who guided the 2016 U.S. Women's Olympic Team to 16 medals, was named the head coach of the UC San Diego men's and women's swimming and diving programs on June 27, 2017. He is back in college swimming for the first time in a decade, having directed his alma mater, Auburn, to 12 combined men's and women's NCAA Division I team national championships between 1990-2007. Marsh led the women of Team USA to unprecedented success at the 2016 Rio Olympics, with a final medal haul of eight gold, four silver and four bronze. That contingent featured the likes of Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, Maya DiRado and Lilly King. He headed cross country to La Jolla from Charlotte, N.C., where he spent the past 10 years as the CEO and Director of Coaching of SwimMAC Carolina. Within that structure, Marsh established and coached Team Elite, which includes SwimMAC's impressive list of professional swimmers.

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